San Jose mayor's race: Dave Cortese vs. Sam Liccardo in November

SAN JOSE -- Dave Cortese and Sam Liccardo are on their way to a November runoff in the race for San Jose mayor, a battle that will largely be a referendum on the Chuck Reed administration.

Cortese, a Santa Clara County supervisor, had clearly emerged triumphant in Tuesday's primary with about one-third of the votes. Liccardo grabbed the other spot with a bit more than 25 percent of the vote, according to semi-final results, with all precincts reporting early Wednesday morning.

Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen, who had threatened to score one of the spots in the runoff, steadily fell Tuesday night and finished with 21 percent of votes. Nguyen conceded Wednesday morning.

Cortese used his politically powerful union backing and promise of change at City Hall to reach the two-person runoff, as polls suggested he would.

"We're going to be unstoppable," Cortese said Tuesday night at a labor-sponsored party. "What happened today is the residents of San Jose called 911 and they asked for change."

The primary contest was largely to determine which of Reed's allies would carry the termed-out mayor's fiscal reform flag against Cortese. Reed and the ousted council members from the mayoral contest are expected to oppose Cortese in November.

Eliminated from the race were two more council members also aligned with Reed: Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio, in fourth with nearly 10 percent of the vote, and Councilwoman Rose Herrera, in fifth with 6 percent.

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Tuesday marked a pivotal day for the balance of power at City Hall. Five more City Council seats were up for grabs, including three that were open because of term limits.

In the biggest upset of the night, Councilman Xavier Campos -- who has been marred by scandal -- was on track to be ousted Tuesday by challenger Magdalena Carrasco, an East Side Union High School board member, after most observers expected Campos to at least make the November runoff. Councilman Don Rocha, a swing vote, also secured more than 50 percent of votes and easily defeated a novice challenger.

San Jose Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen watches the election returns with her supporters on June 3, 2014 in San Jose. Madison is one of five candidates for San Jose Mayor, hoping to succeed Chuck Reed. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

The other three council races -- districts 1, 3 and 7 -- will come down to November runoffs between the top two vote-getters Tuesday as no one came close to the 50 percent mark.

The biggest November matchup will once again be for mayor, as the campaign now shifts from a five-way rumble to a one-on-one showdown in which voters will have to choose between largely staying the course, with Liccardo or Nguyen, or changing City Hall, with Cortese.

Liccardo, Nguyen, Oliverio and Herrera joined Reed in supporting the Measure B pension reforms that nearly 70 percent of city voters approved in 2012 but which unions representing cops and other city workers have challenged in court. The city expects to save significant money from the changes, which Reed and others say are needed to prevent a decimation of city services.

But spurned cops have been quitting for better-paying cities, and the exodus has coincided with increasing crime rates and response times. Public safety was easily the top issue in the primary campaign.

Cortese, a former vice mayor under Reed, was the lone candidate to side with unions that argue the pension measure went too far. He was rewarded with a mass of union workers who campaigned on Cortese's behalf, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for him, and granted key endorsements from popular groups such as police officers, teachers and firefighters, along with the local Democratic Party establishment.

With more than $1 million in direct contributions and independent expenditures supporting him, Liccardo enjoyed more financial support than Nguyen, Oliverio and Herrera combined, as he reeled in big bucks from local CEOs and business leaders. But there were concerns he was not focused enough for the job.

"So far so good," Liccardo said. "The plan was to finish second in June and consolidate support in the runoff, and so far we're right on plan."

Nguyen, who is also termed out, had a compelling story stemming from her family's daring escape from Vietnam when she was a child, and had backing from the city's large Asian and immigrant communities. But she lacked the policy specifics, endorsements and financial support that Cortese and Liccardo had.

San Jose city council member Sam Liccardo during gathering of election returns at Blackbird Tavern, San Jose, Calif. on Tuesday, June 3. Liccardo is one of five candidates for San Jose mayor, hoping to succeed Chuck Reed. (Josie Lepe / Mercury News)

"Even though the results were not in our favor, I feel very blessed and more than satisfied with what we were able to accomplish together," Nguyen wrote in a note to her supporters. "We've run an impressive and respectable campaign with very limited resources."

While both Oliverio and Herrera had the council experience to be considered serious contenders, neither candidate had built the fundraising and endorsement coalitions typically required to mount a citywide campaign for mayor. They also focused on more obscure topics in an attempt to stand out, with Oliverio talking about topics such as porn filters in the children's section of libraries and Herrera launching a jobs-based platform despite the economic upturn.

"The results speak to the power and influence of unions, corporations and out of town money," Oliverio said.

The District 1 race, to replace termed-out Councilman Pete Constant in western San Jose, will come down to Assemblyman Paul Fong, the labor favorite, and business-backed Charles "Chappie" Jones in November.

In District 3, the downtown contest to replaced the termed-out Liccardo, police officer and union candidate Raul Peralez scored one position in the runoff. Big business challenger, Don Gagliardi, was on track to get the other spot, with another union supporter, Kathy Sutherland, still close behind.

In District 7, the central San Jose battle to replace the termed-out Nguyen, attorney Tam Nguyen -- no relation to the vice mayor -- had scored one spot in the runoff while the other was still up in the air. Labor-backed Maya Esparza was the likely opponent in November but still had only a slight lead on business contender Van Le.

The candidates who win mayoral and council seats will take office at the start of 2015.